SER1 Ser 1 107" S/W Revival Part 1

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Dear all, I have been quiet for a long time now since there were no news
about my 1958 107" S/W - it has languished in solitary confinement in a
garage (and in a few hundred plastic bags) about 60 miles/100 km
southeast of Vienna, close to the border with Hungary (called "A" from
here on). I took most of it apart longer than I care to think about,
then ran out of time. A few years ago I bought a house, and a fairly big
barn, about 120 miles/200 km northwest of Vienna, close to the border
with the Czech republic (called "B" from here on). The idea was to have
all my cars (two MK IX Jaguars, a Land-Rover S II and the S I) under one
roof. However, there was no time so far for the S I - the others are
there already.

During the last month I ferried most of the loose parts from A to B, and
last weekend put everything I needed to get the L-R mobile again (I
thought) into my daily driver. Today was a holiday in Austria, and in
addition I took tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday off to deal with the
move.

The chassis, engine, gear box and front axle are still together in one
piece, but the fully-floating rear axle and the rear springs had been
taken off and restored, so putting them back on the L-R was the task for
today. I don't need to tell you these things are heavy, and I was by
myself, so it was quite a struggle to get the springs mounted; there was
no way I could get the axle in over the springs, so one spring was taken
off at the rear and the axle manoeuvered into place. One of the pins
that hold the springs together was stuck in the axle casing, so I had to
get that through the holes in the spring blades (which shifted in all
directions, of course) and managed after a lot of wriggling. Then the
spring was attached to the shackles in the rear again, and we were
almost ready for the next act - fastening the axle to the springs with
the new U-bolts.

However, I couldn't find the bottom plates for the springs - the plates
the U-bolts go through. But I knew they had to be there - I had been so
carefull in packing and labelling everything... But they weren't there.
So, an hour back from A to Vienna, problems getting through since some
main streets were closed for a big military parade, pick up the keys for
B at home, and two more hours to B. Luckily on the way I realized what
had happened - the old U-bolts had had to be cut with an angle grinder,
and the pieces were still stuck to the bottom plates, and I had put them
on the workbench and not gotten around to it. And there they were, on
the workbench - out came the angle grinder, the stubborn U-bolts were
cut close to the plates once more, the stubs knocked out, the plates
cleaned superficially (they will come off the L-R again, anyway). I
grabbed the other non-essential things I had forgotten (overalls,
lights, rags, handcleaner) and drove back to Vienna for two hours.

Tomorrow I will have help, and I hope the rest will go smoothly and we
will be able to tow the L-R the 180 m/300 km from A to B without too
many problems. The front wheels will be on a small trailer, the rear
wheels will follow along (all the way, I hope!). Will keep the list
informed! And since my girlfriend is soon going abroad for seven months,
maybe I'll even be able to make some progress with the restoration.

Take care
Peter Hirsch
1958 S I 107" S/W (in bits and pieces)
1959 S II 109" S/W (the working mule)
1958 Jaguar MK IX (for spares)
1959 Jaguar MK IX (in need of a few small repairs)


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